Craziest Tinfoil Hat Theories of A Song of Ice and FireSecret Targaryens, zombies, and merlings, oh my!

This is a topic-based spoiler-friendly zone. Open discussion of all published events up to the end of ADWD and any scenes from either TV season is ok without tag covers. Speculation on anything that may be revealed in the remaining books is ok without tag covers.

What are your theories?

Who's really a Targaryen in disguise? Are the Faceless Men responsible for everything? Just how did Ned make it to the Wall to become Coldhands? The sky's the limit, but try to back up your claims with hard facts from the story.

Also please upvote these Topics of the Week threads so they stay on the top of the hot listing longer to get more discussion.

Okay so I was just reading a bunch of these when this one struck me. Jaime is AA reborn. He escapes Lady Stoneheart(and possibly Brienne) and obtains OathKeeper. He then continues his duties as Lord Commander and regains more of his swordsmanship skills until eventually Cersei, who in theory will have power again now that Kevan is dead, is about to do something else that is completely awful. Jaime realizes that while he was in love with her she needs to die so he stabs her with OathKeeper fulfilling the prophecy that Cersei will be killed by her younger brother(They are twins but Cersei was born first making Jaime younger, her thinking Tyrion will kill her is a red herring.) Him stabbing her will not only be sacrificing someone he loved, but also complete his story arc of becoming a new person after losing his hand. With this sacrifice OathKeeper becomes Lightbringer (Azor Ahai sarificed his wife to make the original Lightbringer and while Jaime doesn't have a wife Cersei is the closest thing he has). He would then be sent to the Wall for his murder where he could be in a position to fight the Other's.

Wow I just came up with same idea. Was going to add it to my theory in this thread about Jaime being the real hero. You worded it better than I would have. May I add yours to mine up there? I'll credit you.

Rhaegar has dreams of the future. He swaps out with Myles Mooton or Richard Lonmouth before the battle of the trident, and keeps going north. One of his squires dies in his armor (sorry ?dude!) He dyes his hair Young Griff style and joins the watch. Defects and goes north to build the force of wildlings he needs to resist the Long Night II: Icy Boogaloo. From there he keeps tabs on his son (and the PWP) Jon back at Winterfell, making sure things are being set up right for him. Robby comes north, Rhaegar can't resist getting a peek at the king for the first time since the Tourney of Harrenhal. Shit goes down as we are are familiar with, and Jon ends up with Rhaegar (now firmly in his Mance persona of course). He lets the young Nights Watchman go back over the wall on the raiding party not because he trusts him to fight the nights watch, but because he trusts him to re-defect and rise to a position of respect. The whole purpose of Jon's wildling adventure is to open his eyes to the greater threat that faces Westeros, and build relationships he can later use to fight the others. Rhaegar goes south on his (still unknowing) son's mission and also to loot an important artifact from the Crypts of Winterfell. (The actual horn of Joramun? Something that could control dragons? Who knows?!)
He will reveal himself to Jon, ends up getting stabbed by him to create lightbringer, and thus fully establish Jon as the Prince That Was Promised and Azor Ahai.

This. Mance isn't Rhaegar but Jon is likely Rhaegar's son which qualifies him (among other things) to be the next AA. Not to mention, how clueless would Robert need to be to not tell the difference between Rhaegar and one of his high-born retainers like Mooton or Lonmouth when they fought at Ruby Ford? Sorry man, it just doesn't make sense for Rhaegar to be Mance.

Victarion repeatedly remarks how all of Euron's gifts are poisoned. We don't see Euron at all after the Ironborn raids on the Shield Islands, and with his level of intelligence he probably knew that Victarion would try to take Dany with the whole grudge and all on the matter of Victarion's previous wife. So, best disguise for Euron? Hide in plain sight and literally fuck with his brother.

Jaime is going to be the ultimate hero of the story and save the realms of men. Jaime will be sent to the wall and become Lord Commander (This is why he is POV and GRRM is showing so many scenes of him commanding). He will finish what he started in GOT and finish off Bran. Bran who becomes one with The Great Other will come in force with Bloodraven and the Others to attack. As Jaime pushed Bran off the tower, he will push back the Others from the wall. The story will end in full circle from where it began. He will redeem himself in the same way he originally condemned himself in the eyes of the reader.

Who ever Azor Ahai is will die, it doesn't matter if its Dany, Jon or Hodor. This was never their story, it was always Jaime vs Bran.

I'm sure you're aware that there's a theory (but readers of this theory may not be) that the paste that Bran is given to eat at the end of ADWD that vaguely reminded him of blood could have had Jojen as an ingredient. He clearly saw in one of his dreams that he's gonna have a bad time pretty soon, and he's absent a bit before the paste and for the rest of the book after it.

I had never heard the Jamie going to the wall stuff, but I don't think it's too farfetched at all that Bran ends up becoming an antagonist. He doesn't exactly have any reason to love for Westeros.

Edit: original post made it look like the paste was definitely Jojen - fixed poor choice of words

This theory is amazing and I love it. I've been thinking that Jamie is eventually going to be sent to the wall/become Lord Commander, but the whole idea of the story coming full-circle would be amazing.

I often feel like the red headed step child in ASOIAF discussions... I just can't bring myself to forgive Jaime for what he has done. I hate him. I don't think your idea is outside of the realm of possibilities, though. Who would send a kingsguard to the wall, though?

Forks don't exist, they just stab their food with knives and take bites off. That's why blood/grease seems to be constantly dribbling of their chin. Also, I can't recall a single time someone actually refers to fork.

My absolute favorite is the Grand Faceless Men Theory. The gist of the theory is that the Faceless Men are a death cult that seek to exterminate humanity. They do so as a gift of mercy to humanity, because the world is dark and cruel all around, and to end each man's suffering, they would like to grant them the gift of death. All men must die.

In service of this goal, the Faceless Men seek to let the Others back into Westeros. They are one of the main forces that influence events behind the scenes, and all their influence is mainly converging on this goal. Think Littlfinger, on a bigger scale, with way more followers and the ability to use ice-related magic.

The proof for the theory is long, but if you are curious about more, here is where I first learned of this theory.

Syrio was a Faceless Man who escaped the chaos in Kings Landing by becoming Jaqen Hagar, who is also the same FM now in Oldtown pretending to be Pate. (also I never got around to collecting all the info on this idea earlier, so I'm sure I've forgotten details. Please reply with issues/additions and I'll update this post.)

What we know from the story:

Ned says that Syrio had come to him with "excellent references," and it seems Ned asked someone for help to find a trainer.

He claims to have been first sword to the Sealord of Braavos for nine years.

We never see Syrio die, there is never any proof he died, and no character claims he is dead (even GRRM only said "draw your own conclusions"). The standard in ASOIAF is also that people don't die unless you see it yourself.

Cersei: "I sent Meryn Trant to take her in hand when Robert died, but her wretched dancing master interfered and the girl fled. No one has seen her since. Likely she's dead. A great many people died that day." Why would Cersei still think Syrio was only a dancing master if Trant detailed the killing of all the guardsmen and Syrio telling Trant that he was the First Sword of Braavos? She wouldn't know if Trant intentionally kept it to himself.

Ned gave Yoren 3 criminals from the Black Cells. That happens before the fight, but it's unclear when the prisoners were physically moved from the Cells and into Yoren's care. Longwaters simply said the "paperwork was in order," so he let them go, which could have been long after Ned's capture.

Biter and Rorge fear and respect Jaqen unquestionably.

It's hard to explain why a FM would allow himself to be captured and placed in the Black Cells.

Jaqen knew Arry was Arya.

Syrio claimed to be from Braavos. Jaqen claimed to come from Lorath, but he directs Arya to go to Braavos

Jaqen reminds Arya of Syrio.

Faceless men change their appearance by using the faces of the dead

How it could work:

The real First Sword of Braavos is dead, and the FM used his face to become the Syrio in KL.

Ned's new in KL and would need assistance in fighting a sword instructor for Arya. Ned doesn't trust LF, so he'd likely turn to Varys for the contact. Varys may already know Syrio is a FM at this point.

During the final fight Syrio sent Arya away for privacy. He then used other FM skills to escape. He made his way to the Night's Watch group where he killed the real Jaqen and assumed his identity. OR Syrio revealed himself to Trant to end the fight immediately and threatened to return and kill Trant if Trant said anything. OR Syrio was captured by Trant and placed in the Black Cells. Once there he kills the real Jaqen and assumed his identity.

It may be that Syrio was looking for Arya while she disappeared into the streets, and he only resurfaced and became Jaqen once he confirmed Arya was joining the Watch's group. I think this fits better with the idea that Syrio showed Trant he was a FM and that convinced Trant to stay quiet while Syrio walked away.

Biter and Rorge saw the FM replace Jaqen; that is why they fear him.

One of Varys' identities is the gaoler in charge of the Black Cells. He would be in a position to help Syrio replace Jaqen. If Varys did not know who Syrio was before, he could have revealed himself to Varys once in the Cells in order to get help. Syrio was never listed in the roster as a prisoner in the Cells, but Varys would be the one to make that happen and get rid of the body.

What's the motivation for the Faceless Men to have someone in KL simply teaching swordplay?

My initial reasoning is that the FM as Syrio signed a contract with wording similar to "making sure she can take care of herself." So when the situation as KL fell apart the FM joined the Watch's party to stay close to Arya. He left her when she proved to be strong enough to take care of herself.

But I like this theory a lot and lately have come up with a much better reason. Like everyone tied to magic in some way in ASOIAF, the House of Black and White has been given a prophecy. We've seen a glimpse of it in what the Ghost of High Heart tells Arya: "I see you," she whispered. "I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death . . . " She began to sob, her little body shaking. "You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!"

Long story short, there is a lot of heavy foreshadowing in all the books about Arya becoming some kind of incredible killing machine, possibly even the leader of a group of killers or commanding an army (likely inspired by Joan of Arc). That's fine for us readers, but if the House of Black and White also received the prophecy and identified Arya as the source (or at least one possible candidate), they would be very interested in getting someone close to her to get to know her. If she proved true, they would want that contact close enough to direct her to the House of Black and White. The Faceless Men may fear the prophecy and want to train her to try to control her, or the prophecy may have shown them she was meant to be there.

More than everything else, that would explain why a swordsmaster happened to be in Kings Landing and available to teach, why a FM is in Kings Landing impersonating the swordmaster, why the FM was in the Black Cells, and why the FM went out of his way to stay with Arya, leaving only after pointing her to the House of Black and White.

If it wasn't for the Bran-ate-Jojen speculation I would totally be happy with a twist like that. I always thought I identified with House Stark but when I actually discuss the series I turn up being a huge House Reed fanboy.

The Baratheon hair thing refers to the statistical chance that something will happen: no matter how many times a Baratheon mated with a person of different hair color, the child always had black hair. The odds that all of Cersei's children would wind up with only blonde hair are much, much lower, and therefore suspicious.

In genetics, dominant traits are those which if an organism carries the gene it will be expressed. That means that a carrier of both the dominant and recessive genes will express the dominant trait. This means that two parents that express the dominant trait could have offspring that only carry the recessive gene and thus express the recessive trait. -further reading-

Recessive traits are usually ones in which a protein is not expressed, and in the case of hair colour blonds don't make pigments that people with black hair do. This makes it unlikely that Robert would have 3 blond children, but not impossible. Now hair colour is more complex than just simple recessive and dominant traits so we end up with a variety of colours and shades, so it is even more unlikely that Robert would have 3 blond children as there would likely be dirty blond and other shades in there.

It just seems weird that Baratheons would always have black haired children when they have Targarian blood, unless the recessive blond trait wasn't passed on very far.

edit: TLDR: It is a common misconception that a dominant trait will be carried perfectly to the offspring. Statistically only half the offspring would express the dominant trait if the one parent was a dominant and recessive carrier and the other was a strait recessive carrier.

If she is Ashara then why didn't she ever tell Connington about Jon Snow? Ned likely found out about the Tower of Joy from Ashara for one reason or another and if that's true, then she knew about Jon's existence. Why go through all the trouble with Aegon when Jon would likely have been much more accessible?

She's more likely Tyene Sand's mother than she is Ashara Dayne imo. If Tyrion's right about Lemore's age (40+) then Tyene as her daughter (20) is feasible from a timeline pov. Also, wouldn't Ashara be in her mid-30s instead of 40+ at this point?

Mummer's Dragon can be pretty closely translated as "fake dragon," right? If so, Young Griff would still technically be a true Targaryen rather than a fake; Daemon Blackfyre was a bastard of Aegon IV meaning his name was likely Daemon "Blackfyre" Rivers, just like his bastard siblings. Both his parents were full Targ (Daena and Aegon IV) and on top of that, Aegon IV fully legitimized his bastards as Targaryens with real claims to the throne. Even more impressive is that Daemon likely got his name from the Targaryen Family valyrian sword "Blackfyre" which was passed down to him.

Why would Aegon IV give the priceless family heirloom forged by Targaryen ancestors in Valyria to a "fake dragon?"

She's listed in all of GRRM's Targ lineages as a trueborn Targaryen though, which would seem to rule her out for the "fake dragon" bit. A Dayne though... no direct relation to the Targs so he's not a "true" dragon but he looks like one because of his Valyrian heritage.

Mummers are known for wearing costumes and makeup to better fit the character they're portraying; a Dayne that looks like and believes he is the Targ heir would fit the "mummer's dragon" role to a tee.

I agree completely; I've been pro-Blackfyre for a long time. But from the perspective of the post-Aegon IV Targaryens, all of the Blackfyres are illegitimate again. They didn't accept Aegon IV's judgement, and that's essentially what the wars were about that got Daemon (and so many others) killed and the other key supporters exiled. So to "most people" during the ASOIAF timeline a Blackfyre is a "fake dragon." My preference is for all of that to be true, and Aegon to be the King at the end of the story.

Aerys was jealous of Tywin and would go out of his way to wrong him (not agreeing to C+R, taking Jaime as Kingsguard, etc)

Aerys lusted after Joanna and took a few liberties during her wedding at the undressing

Also during the wedding Aerys joked about how it was a pity the First Night tradition was banned

Aerys visited Lannisport for the tournament when Tywin proposed Cersei marry Rhaegar, that would have been around the time of Tyrion's conception

Tywin ordered the massacre of the remaining Targaryens, including the children, in an excessively brutal way (revenge?)

It means Tyrion is not a kinslayer

Edit for more I forgot about:

Tyrion's hair is white-blond, lighter than the other Lannisters

Oberyn and Elia went out of their way to visit Casterly Rock just after Tyrion's birth, when they weren't welcome and everyone was in mourning for Joanna. They said there were omens that the birth would bring wars, plague and famine, the fall of Tywin, and winter with the long night that never ends. Tyrion alone didn't cause all of that; if anything he helps prevent things from getting worse. But it makes sense if the prophecy (that is happening) is more about the joining Joanna and Aerys creating a rift in the power balance.

Just as Joffrey follows the selfish king example set by Robert, Rhaegar's chasing after Lyanna can be seen mirrored in Aerys and Joanna.

Perhaps Tyrion's dwarf condition is the result of Joanna trying to use moontea to end the pregnancy she knew was Aerys'. Targaryens are very robust, and he survived instead.

So the idea is that sometime around that tournament Joanna went to Aerys willingly, or Aerys took an opportunity to force himself on her. Tyrion is born and Tywin suspects. It may be that Joanna's death during childbirth was not as accidental as we've been told; GRRM's well-established the theme of husbands killing unfaithful wives. That would also explain why Tywin will never let Tyrion have a wife and happiness of his own.

It's given further weight by the idea that Dany needs two Targaryens to ride her dragons. Jon and Aegon are candidates, but at the moment it's Tyrion who is already in Meereen and actually knows about dragons. If Aegon's a Blackfyre, then Tyrion's blood is closer to pure.

And then of course there's the idea that Jaime and Cersei are Targs too.

Interesting theory, just so you know you accidently typed that "Tyrion" ordered the killing of all the Targaryens, and clearly you mean Tywin I"m not trying to grammar nazi or anything just wanted to let you know so you can edit

The bedding was much earlier. It just shows that Aerys lusted after Joanna for many years. If I remember right Joanna was also at court prior to her marriage, so as far as tinfoil speculation goes Joanna and Aerys could have had a relationship before she was married to Tywin.

It's also been suggested that all of Tywin's kids are actually from Joanna and Aerys with Tywin a cuckold. That would make for an interesting pattern with Cersei doing the same thing to Robert.

So.... even if this is true which you make a hell of a case, Tyrion would be a bastard on top of a dwarf would he not? Of course I'm sure he could be legitimized again if Daenerys takes the Iron Throne with his help.

That is true..... I guess we'll just have to see how things go out. I think the Imp would be cool with having Casterly Rock whether he is or isn't a Lannister. If he isn't that might make him want it even more, as I giant middle finger to Cersei and the rest of his family. In a worst case scenario Harrenhall or a castle of similar standing at this point though.

I would be totally fine with that. Jon Snow won't want the Iron Thone (if he comes back to life which we all think he will) and I want him to have winterfell anyway. Tyrion has always been my favorite, and if he could marry Daenerys I think that would be the greatest King Queen combination Westeros has had in a long long time! Arguably ever.

And Tywin Lannister just rode it out? All signs point to Tywin killing Tyrion before he was an hour old if this were true; he would have known it was not his, that it was not "healthy," it had a tail, and he already had an heir, and on top of it all Joanna died during the birth.

Once Dany comes back to Westeros, Bran uses his warg abilities to enter and control a dragon. Rickon rides on the dragon's back and shoots a slingshot while Bran hunts down and burns/devours every Frey, Bolton, and Lannister he can find. Dany and the other two dragon's just romp all the scattered armies left from the war and all is well. ALSO... at least half the characters you love have to die.

Now that Gorm has revealed the end of the saga to the producers in case he doesn't make it to the end, HBO has no interest in risking having to delay seasons in case it catches up with the books. They want to have a monopoly over the story (and thus over the revenue), so why would they share it with the editorial houses, when they (HBO) already know what they need to in order to finish the show?

They are killing kim by buying him all the butterfingers and cheetos he wants until he dies of type II diabetes.

Howland Reed will decide the fate of the North. I know that's not very crazy but almost everything has been expounded upon. I have a literature boner for Howland Reed becoming relevant. And his fucking floating doom castle. Moat Cailin ain't got shit on it.

Howland Reed also likely knows the truth about Jon's parents. He was the only one to survive with Ned when they went to the tower to rescue Lyanna. He and Ned were very close, that is mentioned more than once, and it is all but apparent Howland sent his children to protect/teach/lead Bran to his full potential.

Will he decide the fate of the north? In a way, he already has if you believe Bran will ultimately determine what happens in the North.

The things people had against Varys being an Unsullied:
1. Slavery was outlawed in Westeros for hundreds of years.
2. Varys is a schemer, not a fighter.

My responses:
1. The Targaryens (/Blackfyres) answered to neither gods nor men. I don't see how hard it is to imagine the Blackfyres or Targaryens buying Unsullied for household guards, back when the Unsullied could be purchased in small units. Especially if that was the case, the Unsullied are known for one thing: obedience. If the Unsullied were purchased for small household guards, it would fit especially with the paranoia of Aerys II, or any of his predecessors. 2. Even if that's not the case (given that Varys was Master of Whisperers before that) Varys could have been an Unsullied, purchased in a smaller unit for house guard, who mingled with other slaves (that's why they aren't sold in small units by the time Dany gets to Astapor) forgotten his place as an Unsullied, but never forgot his obedience training entirely. In other words, his Unsullied wiring can't be ripped out of his head entirely.

The biggest hole in this theory is actually the very same hole that people use against Syrio is Jaqen: The timing of his capture is wrong. Jaqen is captured before AGOT is over. Dany doesn't get her dragons until the end of AGOT, and it isn't widely known until ACOK or maybe ASOS. Word doesn't really reach Westeros until AFFC.

So for this to be a valid explanation, Jaqen must either be a time travelling Faceless Man, or the Faceless Men have someone reading the future that is fortunate enough to spy what no one else was able to see until it happened - and instead of just killing Dany before it happens, they decide to send someone to Westeros to get captured and stay in the Black Cells of King's Landing on the off chance that one of the Night's Watch men come for them, then they have to hope that they'll get sent to Castle Black instead of Eastwatch-By-The-Sea or the Shadow Tower, and then they have to hope that they can actually find the book.

Alternately, they could've been keeping tabs on all the known dragon eggs still in existence, and once they caught wind of Illyrio having both some fossilized dragon eggs and access to pureblood Valyrians, they decided to hedge their bets in case something should come of it.

If they're that worried about the dragon eggs hatching, why not just get a copy of the book before that happens? It makes no sense to wait, either way. What is more likely is that Euron traded dragon eggs to the Faceless Men to kill Balon, instead of throwing them into the ocean, and so the Faceless Men want to hatch them. That better explains their interest in the book.

Oh, by the way. The book isn't on dragonslaying. It's called The Death of Dragons because it's about the Targ Dynasty in the last few years that they had dragons, and supposedly details how those dragons died. Tyrion mentions in ADWD that a different book mentions that you kill dragons by going for the eyes -- suggesting that dragonslaying isn't a particularly obscure thing.

It seems to me that they want to know what caused the disappearance, and thus perhaps also the re-emergence of dragons into the world.

It is not explained in the books, but there is mention of him in AFFC, I believe, when a prison guard mentions that there were three men in the black cells. Ned Stark gave Yoren the pick of the dungeons, which included those three, and presumably Jaqen.

The fan speculation that Jaqen is Syrio Forel is based mostly on wishful thinking, as there is no evidence of that, other than the fact that Syrio might have been captured and Jaqen appears in the black cells at around the same time. And also because he knew Arya's real identity. But like I said above, I believe Jaqen was already in the dungeons when Ned was Hand.

GRRM said in an interview that thee are multiple, 4 or 5, IIRC. There's also a greenseeing scene where Bran sees Old Nan, not so old, making out with a very talk man, which many think might have been Ser Duncan.

When a sorrowful man was hired in 295AL to murder a crooked Qartheen merchant, he was only sorry - not SO sorry. This set into motion the whole ASOIAF story through a series of boring butterfly effect moments, to be the entirety of the story of ADOS.

It's all laid out in the text pretty clearly, but it's one of those things you probably won't catch until a second read.

Mancer Rayder is someone's father from 'back in the day' not just recently.

I subscribe to RLJ, but have had the thought that Mance could be Jon's father. The story of the Winterfell woman that gets taken by a Bard instead of a rose screams Lyanna and Mance (although Rhaegar played the high harp too...). However it's like he "stole" her and we know about wildings and stealing women. Further, he sneaks into Winterfell with King Robert et al just for kicks? I think he did so to check up on his boy - Jon. Which is also why he accepts him as a turncloak so easily, perhaps thinking 'like father, like son'. Then his insistence on fighting Jon in the practice yard at the Wall (as Lord of Bones), almost testing his mettle...His willingness to try and save Jon's 'sister'.

The fly in my ointment is that Mance seems to identify with the song about kissing the Dornishmans wife. He even says something about not knowing why he needs to keep living, as he has already kissed the Dornishmans wife.

I cant think of anyone he was connected to that was Dornish. So, it may be that he is simply borrowing the song that most closely fits what he did (stealing a kiss from the Dornishmans wife) as opposed to anyone being actually Dornish.

Also, I am not certain the timing works out for this, IDK how old Mance is in relation to Lyanna or Jon (or anyone else for that matter).

So I've been reading a lot of these Tinfoil theories and have come to conclusion that Bran will unite the seven kingdoms. I don't think that was what he set out to do, or whether he knows what he's doing. But in the end, Bran and the 'Others' will force the realm to come into common cause and defeat the 'evil' that is the 'others'. On the flip side 'Azor Ahai' (who ever he/she is) will be credited with the idea of uniting the realm and defeating the big bad wolf that is Bran.

I've only read to the end of ASoS so far so don't laugh too hard if this has been (dis)proven already. I believe Mance's "horn of winter" in his tent is just some huge showy bit to worry the watch. The real horn of winter is the one Jon and Sam found bundled with the map and the dragon glass at the Fist.

I still like the theory of Jon Snow actually being the son of Ned's sister, Lyanna, and Prince Rheagar Targaryen. I mean after all, Ned was always pretty against revealing who Jon's mother was, and when asked by Robert, he had a plausible alibi of another random woman they came across on their rebellion. He wouldn't want to even mention that Jon may be a Targaryen, since Robert had a thing for killing them, lol.

Also, Ned never did say that Jon was of his son, but that, "...he is of my blood."

I know many of you have read about this theory before, but it just still seems very plausible to me. Maybe Jon is the 'Promised Prince' or 'Azor Ahai'.

The end of Dance is what seals Jon as AA imo. His wounds smoke, he gets salt from the tears of Bowen Marsh, Melisandre sees only "Snow" when she looks into her fires, Jon killed his beloved Ygritte by returning to alert the Watch, and he has Targaryen blood from Rhaegar as well. Not to mention, he's the closes AA candidate to the Wall and the Others with Melisandre nearby to revive him as the reborn AA before he is burned by the Watch.

Not really sure what my own thoughts on it are, but Dany's dream/nightmare while in Meereen: "Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her … but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice." Blue lips and a cold johnson? it was fairly obvious that Hizdahr was working against Dany, but could it be possible that he is not a catspaw for the Sons of the Harpy, but for the Others/a faction aligned with the others?

It definitely sounds like a reference to the Others but I have trouble believing any worldly faction is aligned and cooperating with the Others just because the Others don't seem like they're the "looking for allies" type.

My current theories.
-Varys is a Targaryen (come on, his name ends in rys!)
-Jon Snow is either a child of Rhaegar and Lyanna or the babe who supposedly had his brains dashed in (thus making Young Griff a fake). Either way, I bet he's got some dragon in him.
-That guys Bran and the Reeds were hanging out with beyond the wall is Benjen. Might have already been established through implication.

Coldhands isn't Benjen either considering Leaf tells Bran that CH was killed "long ago" and considering Leaf is 200+ years old, "long ago" is likely to be at least 50-100 years, if not 300+; Benjen was killed about 3 years prior to Bran going north of the Wall, hardly a long time for a 200 year old child of the forest. Also, Jon's parentage is probably Lyanna and Rhaegar, that's most likely at least and it fits the final piece of the AA puzzle as well.

I haven't finished ADWD yet but I'm fairly sure the kind old man who takes in Arya in Braavos is Jaqen H'gar. He's obviously the leader and most accomplished assassin, and that's why he so effortlessly despatched the men in Harrenhal. That takes skill, as I believe, judging from the failure to assassinate Dany earlier in aCOK not all faceless men are epic ninjas.